"Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary."
-Khalil Gibran

Poetry comes from the Greek word poieo ( poi-e'-o). This word means to create or to make. In its most simpliest defined form, "poetry is a writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm" (Merriam-Webster).

English literature has gone through several periods which are the Medieval (500-1500), Renaissance (1500-1670), Enlightement (1700-1800), Romantic (1798-1870), Transcendental (1830-1860), Victorian (1837-1901), Realism (180-1920), Naturalism (1870-1920), The Bloomsbury Group (1903-1964), Existensialism (1850-Today), Modernism (1910-1965), The Beat Generation (1945-1965) and Post-Modernism (1965-Today). Each of these periods have birthed some of the most notable and well-known poets in history. Please check out the chart right to see the famous poets of each era.

The written forms of poetry have given the world some of the most beautiful works mankind has ever read. However, there is another form of poetry that needs mentioning. Spoken word is probably the oldest form of poetry. Before written text, our ancestors used to recite stories, hymns and prose orally. In the African and African-American culture, spoken word has always been a prominent way of sharing their stories. Say It Loud on the Smithsonian Folkways website gives an explanation on how spoken word and oral traditions have influenced African-American culture. In the world of spoken word poetry, there has been several people to make their marks. They are Sarah Kay, Suheir Hammad, Sunni Patterson and Jamila Lyiscott.

So with saying all of that, I hope that you enjoy and are compelled to take a further look into my world: The Poetry Within.